Baseball’s annual show about nothing, otherwise known as the general managers’ meetings, will begin in earnest today. It will end Thursday, presumably with little to no news having been generated at the Dana Point gathering.

But that doesn’t mean nothing will get done.

“It is probably the beginning of the process where we start to get clarity on different things,” Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said. “It is not the end of the process. Really, there is only one end of the process, and that is (the trading deadline of) July 31. Since there are no (offseason) deadlines, there are always a lot of moving pieces, and that isn’t conducive to a lot of activity.”

Among the things the Dodgers won’t do during these meetings, which really are nothing more than a prelude to next month’s Winter Meetings in Las Vegas:

They won’t re-sign left fielder Manny Ramirez, who can’t even start negotiating with other clubs until Nov. 15 and whose Newport Beach-based agent, Scott Boras, isn’t about to let him accept a deal from the Dodgers without at least testing the market.

They won’t acquire right-hander Jake Peavy from San Diego or left fielder Matt Holliday from Colorado, both of whom, for now at least, would come at a price tag the Dodgers aren’t prepared to meet.

They won’t come home with any more of an idea as to what their 2009 opening-day roster will look like than they had when club officials left town Monday.

What Colletti and his inner circle will do, however, is attend meetings.

Lots of them.

The mornings are set aside for Major League Baseball, which will bring all 30 general managers into a room each day for a variety of purposes.

“We talk about rules, scouting issues, player-development issues, administration issues,” Colletti said. “A lot of people from MLBcome and speak and fill us in on what their departments are doing.

“Some umpires come, and we talk to them. There are usually some broadcasting folks who come in and talk about the networks and accessibility. There are about five hours of these organization meetings every day.”

The rest of the time, the staffs are free to schedule their own meetings, with other front offices or with agents for free-agent players. Although Colletti had no such meetings scheduled as he prepared to head south around noon on Monday, he planned to meet with Boras to discuss not only Ramirez, but also pitcher Derek Lowe.

Although Boras is believed to be seeking a six-year deal for Ramirez, the Dodgers’ usual strategy since Colletti took over three years ago has been to offer shorter contracts at higher salaries. In December 2005, when it appeared free-agent shortstop Rafael Furcal was on the verge of signing a five-year deal with the Chicago Cubs, Colletti stepped in at the last minute and convinced Furcal and Paul Kinzer, Furcal’s Atlanta-based agent, to instead accept a three-year contract with the Dodgers at a lower total value ($39 million) but a higher average annual value ($13 million).

The dangling carrot was that Furcal would then be free to test the market at age 31 (now) instead of age 33 (two years hence).

And although the gamble didn’t appear to pay off for Furcal – he now enters free agency after missing 125 games this season with a lower-back injury – it looked at the time like a win-win for both sides.

The Dodgers’ chances of retaining Ramirez, then, probably depend on his willingness to accept a shorter-term deal, maybe something along the lines of three years and $75 million. And really, that isn’t such a long shot.

Ramirez is 36, meaning the list of teams willing to commit to him beyond his 42nd birthday figures to be short. Moreover, another Boras client, center fielder Andruw Jones, entered last year’s free-agent market seeking a seven-year deal, and he wound up signing with the Dodgers for two years, $36.2 million.

Jones was six years younger then than Ramirez is now.

For now, the Dodgers don’t figure to be major players for the services of left-hander CC Sabathia, easily the top pitcher available on this year’s free-agent market, because of the size of contract he figures to command.

Trading for Peavy or Holliday also appears to be a long shot. Both the Padres and Rockies probably would be seeking a package of young, major league-ready players almost certain to include either Chad Billingsley or Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers, who themselves are in the market for a starter, can’t afford to part with either one.

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